THE ARTISTS OF GUGGING

Project Description

Since 1981, The Gugging House of Artists (a colorful building approximately 12.4 miles north of Vienna, Austria) has housed and encouraged the creativity of artists whose drawings, paintings, photography, objects, and writings have made them world-famous. There are currently 12 residents at the House of Artists (six of them represented by Galerie Gugging) who are among the most important representatives of contemporary Art Brut.

The history of the Gugging House of Artists dates back to 1954, when psychiatrist Leo Navratil administered diagnostic drawing tests to his patients at the Maria Gugging Psychiatric Clinic, unexpectedly discovering artistically talented individuals in his ward. Navratil’s first book Schizophrenie und Kunst (“Schizophrenia and Art”) was published in 1965. In 1970, the Gugging artists had their first exhibition in the Viennese Galerie nächst St. Stephan. By 1981, all artistically talented patients were housed under one roof—the Center for Art-Psychotherapy—and exhibitions featuring their work began to pop up all over Europe. Eventually, the center’s name was changed to House of Artists and the psychological analysis of their art was no longer the focus—thus emphasizing individual talent over mental illness. Navarti’s successor, Johann Feilacher sought to promote the artists’ work widely in the international art market and, to this day, the Gugging artists have been part of more than 250 exhibitions in galleries and museums worldwide.